1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lactic acid food products comprising Lactobacillus acidophilus Strain 317/402 and soy milk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lactic acid food products, such as milk and yogurt, are used both as a part of a normal diet and for the medical treatment of children and adults suffering from a variety of health problems ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to pulmonary disease and allergies. Lactic acid food products are used in medicine both for their basic nutritive value, and for the physiologically active substances they contain.
Cultured lactic acid food products such as cottage cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and yogurt are well known. In addition, dry lactic acid food products are known. However, many of these products do not have sufficient nutritive value to be of medical use. One reason for this is that in making cultured lactic acid food products only mesophylic and thermophylic streptococcus, or lactobacteria with low activity are used. These cultures weakly synthesize vitamins and other useful nutrients. Such products provide only a transitory lactic acid microflora in the intestine of the person consuming them and thus are not useful in medical treatments.
Moreover, the majority of lactic acid food products contain lactose. This restricts their use by people suffering from lactose intolerance due to a deficit in the lactatedehydrogenase enzyme. The high level of cholesterol in such products also reduces their medical value.
A number of lactic acid food products are known in the art. Sour cream and cottage cheese made from cows milk supplemented with cultures of mesophylic and thermophylic lactic acid streptococcus or an admixture of pure cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus and flavoring streptococcus have been described in several patents. Patent of Russian Federation No. 2072228; Patent of Russian Federation No. 2100935. The weak synthesis of vitamins and other useful nutrients, as well as the high lactose concentration explain the insufficient dietary and medical value of these products.
Lactic acid food product desserts have also been described. Patent of Russian Federation No. 2007091; U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,830. These products contain dairy products, stabilizer, sweetening agent and a concentrate of low activity Bifidobacterium.
An ice cream that includes the lactic acid Streptococcus bacteria has been described. Japan Appl. No. 59-020339. However, this product provides only transitory lactic acid microflora in the intestine of the person consuming it. In addition, it has weak antacid properties and thus is of limited use in treating persons suffering from gastrointestinal diseases such as gastritis, hyperemia and ulcer of a stomach.
The process of producing a dairy drink that restores electrolyte balance is also known. The drink contains a source of vitamins and minerals and may be consumed by people with allergies to dairy products. U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,040. The drink is produced by a traditional method of milk or whey processing that lowers the protein concentration. However, this traditional process does not produce a food product with medical uses.
Powdered or pelleted lactic acid food products are also known. Patent of Great Britain No. 2076424; U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,773; Patent of Russian Federation No. 2083122. However, upon dissolution in water or milk, the bacteria in these products have a reduced ability to adhere to the epithelium of the digestive tract. This is explained by the fact that the Bifidobacteria are in a state of anabiosis after lyophilization. The process of transition of the lyophilized bacteria to the active physiological state takes 6-8 hours. Thus if the product is consumed shortly after being dissolved it will pass through the intestine without providing any beneficial effect from the bacteria. This lengthy transition to the active state complicates the preparation of the product when it is to be used for medical treatments. Additionally, only a single culture of lactic acid bacteria is used in these products, considerably reducing the nutritive and treatment value.
Recently many lactic acid food products have appeared on the market with reduced lactose concentrations. These products allow dairy intolerant people to benefit from the promotion of normalized intestinal microflora that is associated with their consumption. Products for enteral feeding containing hydrolysate of soy protein and intact soy protein have been described. One liquid product contains a minimum of 50% hydrolysate of soy protein and has a pH of 6.4 to 6.6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,615. Another contains 60 to 90% hydrolysate of soy protein and is used for the enteral feeding during radiation therapy or chemotherapy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,656. However, the preparation of these products is very labor intensive because the soy protein is first dissolved and then the hydrolysate is cleared with heat treatment. In addition, the products are not intended for everyday usage unless so prescribed.
To improve both the medical and organoleptic properties of these soy-based products, sugars, vitamins and other substances must be added. This allows the use of these products both as part of a diet and as part of a medical treatment to promote the growth of the natural microflora of intestine and to lower cholesterol levels in the blood.
Streptococcus salivarius can serve in a starter for fermented milk products. It is known that this species of lactic acid producing bacteria produces an antibacterial substance. Thus the use of Streptococcus salivarius in a starter for fermented milk products inhibits the growth of any other lactic acid producing bacteria present in the starter during fermentation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,723.
A composition for the production of an albuminous lactic acid food product has been previously described by the authors. Patent of Russian Federation No. 2,128,444. In the lactic acid food product of this patent, a combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus, strain 317/402 and the lactic acid producing streptococci S. lactis, S. citravorus and S. thermophilus was used as a starter. This starter is added to a mixture of cow milk and soy milk. However, only a circumscribed assortment of products has been made with this starter.
The aim of the present invention is to produce a variety of lactic acid products suitable for everyday consumption (sour cream, cottage cheese, lactic acid desserts, dry drinks) that also have an increased medical utility.
The present invention relates to lactic acid food products that are made from a soy milk basis and comprise Lactobacillus acidophilus strain 317/402. Lactobacillus acidophilus strain 317/402 may be part of a starter that also comprises Lactobacillus acidophilus non-mucus dew, Streptococcus cremoris, Streptococcus diacetilactis and Lactobacillus salivarius. The starter may be added to soy milk or a mixture of soy milk and dairy milk to produce a lactic acid food product.